SAN BRUNO -- With a thunderous roar heard for miles, a natural gas line explosion ripped through a San Bruno neighborhood shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, sending up a geyser of fire, critically burning residents and igniting a blaze that gobbled up more than a dozen houses. The wind-whipped blaze jumped from structure to structure in the area near Skyline Boulevard and Sneath Lane, west of Interstate 280, raging unabated for almost an hour as emergency crews rushed in, residents cleared out, and ambulance sirens filled the air. The central ball of fire, fed by the gas line, raged past nightfall before abating. By then, about 20 houses and thick stands of trees were engulfed in flames. Power was cut off to the area, and the only light came from emergency vehicles and the smoldering houses. Omar Naber and his mother, Lana Naber, were in their home at 1141 Vermont Ave., just east of Skyline and south of Sneath, when the house shook violently about 6:15 p.m. "I thought it was the biggest earthquake ever," he said. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. spokesman Jeff Smith said one of the utility's natural gas transmission lines ruptured. The reason for the rupture is unknown, he said. "If it is ultimately determined that we were responsible for the cause of this incident, we will take accountability," Smith said. "Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by this terrible situation." Injured in hospital Fifteen people were being treated at Kaiser Medical Center in South San Francisco for burns, smoke inhalation and other injuries, spokeswoman Stacey Wagner said. Some critically burned patients had been transferred earlier to California Pacific Medical Center's St. Luke's campus in San Francisco, she said. Five injured people were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Spokeswoman Rachael Kagan said three were in critical condition - a man in his 50s and a woman in her 80s, both suffering from burn injuries, and a woman in her 80s being treated for smoke inhalation. A woman in her 60s was in serious condition with smoke inhalation, and the fifth victim was in good condition, Kagan said. A nursing supervisor at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco said two people were being treated there. Abelardo Vega, 34, of Daly City was at a church service nearby and came to check on a friend in the neighborhood when the blast happened. He couldn't reach the friend but got his cell phone's voice-mail message. "Thanks for your concern," the message said. "My house did catch on f- fire. Luckily, none of my family got hurt. They're all OK. ... I lost my house." Joe Simpson, who lives a half-mile from the explosion, said the blast had shaken his house like an earthquake. "I felt it as much as I heard it," he said. As night fell, Simpson said he had a startling view of the fire geyser from his backyard, estimating the flames were shooting 200 to 300 feet high. 'I'm hoping for the bes David Pinochi, who lives on Crestmoor Drive a quarter-mile away from the explosion, was being evacuated as large bits of ash rained down. Firefighters marked houses with a large "X" after they evacuated families. "I've loaded up my dogs, and I'm getting ready to go," said Pinochi, who ran to get home to check on his children, ages 10, 12, 16. All were safe. "I took my Niner autographed stuff and packed it up. I'm hoping for the best." Ed Hornung, who also was evacuating, said, "It was so loud, it could have been a nuclear explosion." Emergency shelter set u A shelter for residents was established at a San Bruno Parks and Recreation Department center. Sheriff's deputies and police began evacuating residents near the fireball within minutes, pounding on doors as the flames raged nearby. They went door to door, ordering people out of their houses as their colleagues set up equipment mere feet away to battle the flames. Naber and his mother, in their house on Vermont Avenue, rushed for the front door after they heard the explosion and tried to open it, but the door handle was too hot. He ran to his room, grabbed his car keys and fled the house with his mother through another exit. Running out of the hea As they ran to the car, which was parked on the street, they could see a fireball. The heat was so intense, it burned the hair off his arms, he said as he stood in shock with his mother on Skyline. "It's really sad for all those residents, for all the people who were on top of the explosion," Naber said. Leigh Bishop, staff pastor at Church of the Highlands in San Bruno, was standing in the parking lot preparing for a night meeting when the blast ripped into the sky. "It was absolutely frightening," Bishop said. "A huge yellowing billow of flame. I thought it was right behind our church building and ran in to pull the fire alarm and get everyone out of the church." He realized it was about three-fourths of a mile away. "The initial explosion was just deafening," Bishop said. Chronicle staff writers Henry K. Lee, Demian Bulwa and Carolyn Jones contributed to this report. E-mail the writers at mlagos@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com, mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com, and jberton@sfchronicle.com. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/09/BADP1FBJRS.DTL